Apparatus for treating vegetable fiber



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

M. W. SUMMERSGILL. APPARATUS FOR TREATING VEGETABLE FIBER.

0. 556 590. I Patented Mar. 17, 1896.

v g wue/wbov 7; WSumme r3 9 ill AN DREW VB.GRAHAMTPNOTO'UTHQWASNINBTON.D l- (No Model.) 2 Sheets Sheet 2. M. W. SUMMERSGILL.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING'VEGETABLE FIBER." No. 556,590. Patented Mar. 17,1896.

3 JH YXWSummem ZZ AN DREW RGRANAM. PHO'IO-U'ITIQWASMNGI'DND C UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE,

MARK WV. SUMMERSGILL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING VEGETABLE FIBER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 556,590, dated March17, 1896.

Application filed August 8, 1895.

To to whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MARK XV. SUMMERS- GILL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia andState of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Apparatus for Treating Vegetable Fiber, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in apparatus fortreating vegetable fibers to free them from bark, pulp, and gum, wherebythey may be rendered fit for use in the production of fabrics and thelike, and has for its object to produce such an apparatus that shallgreatly facilitate and cheapen the process of treatment and in which theaction of the reducing solutions will be brought to bear upon all partsof the fiber uniformly.

With these ends in view the invention consists in the details ofconstruction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and thenspecifically designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which my invention appertainsmay understand how to make and use the same, I will describe itsconstruction and operation in detail, referring by number to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and inwhich Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of my improved apparatus and theseveral devices used in connection therewith; Fig. 2, a horizontalsection of the digester proper, the removable parts being omitted inorder to show more clearly the relative position of the e11- trance ofthe several tubes to said digester; Fig. 3, a horizontal section of thereceiverframe; and Fig. 1, a vertical section of one of the receivers,the removable wire screen being shown in position prior to clamping.

Similar numbers denote like parts in the several views of the drawings.

1 represents the digester-tank, made preferably in boiler shape, andprovided with water-gages 2, steam-gage 3, safety-valve 4, and blow-off5, all of usual construction and for well-known purposes.

6 is a cap or head adapted to be secured steam and water tight to thetop of the boiler for the purpose of closing the latter by means SerialNo. 558,631. (No model.)

of the swing-bolts 7 This cap is provided with a false head 8,perforated so as to arrest the passage of froth or foreign substances tothe safety-valve or steam-gage, whereby the same might become cloggedand rendered useless.

9 is a vertical shaft journaled in the cap 6 and false head 8, so as torevolve therein, and secured to this shaft are pulleys 10 for impartingmotion thereto by means of a belt connected with any suitable motivepower.

11 is a chain secured to the upper end of the shaft 9 and passing oversuitable pulleys 12 and 13 and having secured to its opposite endweights 14 of sufficient heft to counterbalance the weight of the shaft,cap and parts carried thereby, for the purpose presently explained.Extending up through the bottom of the digester is a pipe 15 and aroundthis is journaled the receiver-frame 16, composed of a number ofreceivers 17, radiating from the center to within close proximity to thesides of the digester.

18 is a cap secured to the upper end of the frame 16 and provided with aflattened extension 19, over which fits the slotted lower end of theshaft 9. Thus it will be seen that upon the rotation of said shaft theframe and receivers carried thereby will be caused to revolve upon andaround the pipe 15, the object of which will presently appear. The lowerend of the pipe 15 terminates in a globe distributing-cl1amber 20 and isprovided with the valve 21 by which communication with said chamber maybe established or cut off. Radiating from this chamber 20 are the tubes22, each provided with a valve 23. They are preferably six in number andcommunicate with the bottom of the digester. Also radiating from thechamber 20 are the the steamtubes 24:, provided with the valves 25.These tubes extend up within close proximity to the top of the digesterand are provided with a number of small perforations throughouttheirvertical length, for the purpose hereinafter explained.

26 is a steam-pipe entering the under side of the chamber 20 andsupplied from any convenient source with live steam.

27 and 28 are pipes connected with the digester at or near its top andextend downward, terminating in the chamber 20 and provided with thevalves 29 and 30. The pipe 27 is connected with a suitable pump 31, fromwhich leads a pipe 32, which extends upward, then horizontally, and finally terminates in the filter 33, which is provided with acoil-pipe 34,connected with a steam source by which the contents of the filter may beheated. The bottom of this filter is made funnel-shaped and filled withany suitable filtering material 35, over which is placed a sieve 36. Thepipe 28 is connected with the bottom of the filter by the pipe 37.

38, 39, and 40 are reservoirs disposed between the pipes 32 and 37 andconnected with the former by pipes 41, 42 and 43, respectively, whichare provided with valves 44, and the latter by pipes 45, 46 and 47-,respectively, also provided with the valves 48, the object of which willbe hereinafter set forth.

From the foregoing description the operation of my improvement will beas follows: The receivers 17 are filled with the fiber to be treated inits natural state, and the frame 16 carrying said receivers is placedwithin the digester around the tube 15, and the cap or head 6 is loweredinto place and secured by the bolts 7, when by applying power to thepulleys the shaft 9 will be caused to revolve, rotating the frame 16 andreceivers 17. Now by opening the valve 48 of the tube 45 and the valve30 the chemical which is contained in the reservoir 38 will flow intothe digester until the latter has been sufficiently filled, when byadmitting steam through the pipe 26 and pipes and 24, by the propermanipulation of their valves, the contents of the digester will bethoroughly heated and acted upon by the steam-jets, which will issuefrom the perforations of the pipes 15 and 24, and when this has beencarried to a sufficient degree the pump 31 will be put into action andthe valves 48 and closed and the valves 29, 49, 50, and 51 opened, whichwill set up a circulation of the liquid within the digester through thetubes 22, 27, and 32 and the filter 33, where the liquid will be furtherheated and returned again to the digester through pipes 37 and 28 and bedischarged at the upper end of the latter, as shown by the arrow. \Vhenthis operation has been carried on to asufficient degree to free thefiber of its grosser incasement, such as bark, the liquid will be pumpedback into the reservoir 38 by the proper manipulation of the valves andthe material in the condenser-subjected to the cleansing'action of waterby connecting the reservoir 39, which contains such water, with thecondenser, by the manipulation of its valve 48, and repeating theprocess just described in connection with the reservoir 38, and when thewater has accomplished its purpose it will be again returned to thereservoir 39 by the proper manipulation of the valves, after which thechemical contained in the reservoir will be utilized to further removethe objectionable substances from the fiber under treatment in the samemanner as described in connection with the reservoirs 38 and 39, whenthe water will be again brought into action to thoroughly rinse andremove all foreign substances and chemicals from the fiber beforeremoving the latter from the digester. Thus it will be seen that whenthe fiber has once been placed in the digester it will be treated in theseveral steps necessary to prepare it for use in the production offabrics without the annoyance and loss of time attendant upon itsfrequent removal from said digester, which greatly lessens the cost oftreatment as well as produces a better article, since the fibers are notdisturbed when once placed in the receivers and therefore do not becomeentangled or broken.

I have found in practice that to hasten the operation of digesting ordecomposing the objectionable substances surrounding the fiber it isadvantageous to cause the circulation of the several liquids in variousdirections from the digester, and this is readily accomplished by theproper manipulation of the numerous valves, so that the liquid may befirst fed in at the top of the digester upon one side and exhausted atthe bottom, or exhausted at the top and supplied at the bottom, whichwould facilitate the action of said liquid upon all the contents of thedigester.

To remove the fiber after its reduction, it is only necessary to unboltthe cap 6, when said cap, shaft and parts carried thereby may beelevated through the counterbalancing of the weight 14 and the frame andreceivers carried thereby withdrawn from the digester, so as to beemptied and refilled.

During the process above described the tubes 22 are prevented frombecoming choked by the false perforated bottom 52, which will check andretain any particles of bark or other substances which have not beendecomposed sufficiently to pass through these perforations, and all ofsaid foreign substances will be caught and retained by the sieve 36 andfiltering material 35, which may be removed and cleansed at thetermination of each complete operation.

To facilitate the placing of the fiber within the receivers, I form thelatter by making a rectangular frame and securing thereto a wire netting53, from which project a number of pins 54, around and among which maybe wound the fiber, so as to prevent it from be coming entangled orfalling to the bottom of the receivers, and when the fiber is thusplaced a wire screen 55 incloses each receiver and is held in positionby the thumb-screws 56 and any suitable nuts 57.

I-Ieretofore the reduction of fiber has been a slow and tedious process,from the fact that it was placed in a stationary manner in a vat ordigester, and the only action had upon it by the decomposingliquid wasthat occasioned by the circulation of said liquid; but by the use of myimprovement I greatly reduce the length of time necessary to decomposethe foreign substancessuch as bark, pulp and gumand remove the same fromthe fiber by causing said fiber to be rapidly rotated within thedecomposing liquid While said liquid is being circulated, and alsoincreasing the action of said liquid upon the fiber by filtering andheating, so that it comes in contact with the fiber in a more pure andactive state than would otherwise be the case.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and usefulis- 1. The herein-described combination of a digester-tank, a caparranged on the top thereof and provided with a perforated false head, aperforated pipe leading upward from the bottom, receivers radiating fromthe center consisting of rectangular frames with Wirenetting securedthereon having pins to receive the fiber, a Wire screen inclosing eachreceiver and a thumb-screw for retaining the frame and screen inposition, means for rotating the receivers and connections for ad- Intestimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

MARK W. SUMMERSGILL. IVitnesses:

S. S. WVILLIAMsoN, ALLISON W. 31061131331.

